Arising from a seminar at the 2008 meeting of the Shakespeare Association of America, this volume contains 14 contributed chapters, a lengthy introduction by the editors, and an afterword. The
focus is on early modern England's profound economic changes that saw a shift from feudal to wage labor and a growing number of workers without masters. Seen on the stage in London's first
purpose-built theaters were plays that investigated or reflected the changes and had as subjects working people in the new economic environment. The studies presented here discuss the female
servant in early modern tragedy, citizens and aliens as working subjects in Dekker's The Shoemaker's Holiday, the comic-tragedy of labor, and redefining work in The Alchemist, among other
topics. Editor Michelle M. Dowd is affiliated with the U. of North Carolina; Natasha Korda, is with Wesleyan U. Annotation 穢2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
